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Dr. Richard Evans Schultes Historical Ethnographer

Dr. Richard Evans Schultes Historical Ethnographer. By: Nathan Beeman Biology 428 Frostburg State University. Background. Dr. Richard Evans Schultes Jan. 12, 1915 to April 10, 2001 Born and died in Boston, Mass. He was the son of German immigrants. www.erowid.org.

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Dr. Richard Evans Schultes Historical Ethnographer

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  1. Dr. Richard Evans SchultesHistorical Ethnographer By: Nathan Beeman Biology 428 Frostburg State University

  2. Background • Dr. Richard Evans Schultes Jan. 12, 1915 to April 10, 2001 • Born and died in Boston, Mass. • He was the son of German immigrants www.erowid.org

  3. Background • During a lengthy childhood illness he read Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and the Andes by Richard Spruce • This book would ultimately influence Dr. Schultes’ career in plant exploration • He graduated from East Boston High School • He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University

  4. Career • He did his undergraduate dissertation research on Peyote with the Kiowa Indians of Oklahoma • This is where he first took on the role of ethnographer • Not only did he see the how the plant was used ceremoniously but the actual role it played in the daily lives of these people

  5. Career • No longer was it all about understanding the plants, but understanding the cultures in which they were used was equally as important • For his graduate thesis he continued the study of plants with psychoactive properties • Mushrooms that were used by Aztecs in Oaxaca, Mexico

  6. Career • To his disdain, his publication Plants of the Gods became the handbook for the 1960’s drug counter-culture lead by figures such as Timothy Leary and William S. Burroughs • Their recreational drug use would stigmatize and cause the rest of western society to look unfavorably at the native cultures who used these sacred plants www.erowid.org

  7. Career • In 1941 he began his 12 year stay in the Columbian Amazon doing research on curare, a mixture of plants used for poison arrows • While there he traveled alone most often • He learned several native tongues and dialects • He relied on the hospitality of local indians and rarely encountered any hostility

  8. Career • In the advent of WWII he was given an assignment by the USDA to find seed sources for Hevea, rubber trees • This helped him establish conservation programs that are used today by large drug companies • They are able to research and extract plants for their medicinal purposes without adversely affecting the quality of life of the native peoples • One his greatest fears was that “the native people and their knowledge was disappearing faster than plants themselves”

  9. Accomplishments • Director of the Botanical Museum and Professor of Biology at Harvard University • Collection of over 20,000 specimens and discovery of 120 previously unknown species • Cross of Boyaca Award; Columbia’s highest honor • The naming of the Schultes Preserve, a large tract of land in the Columbian Amazon

  10. Sources • "The Vaults of Erowid." Web. 18 Feb 2010. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/schultes_richard/images/schultes_richard4_med.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/schultes_richard/schultes_richard.shtml&h=250&w=200&sz=19&tbnid=1_g64gvMRYCiVM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drichard%2Bevans%2Bschultes&hl=en&usg=__8Ww8hGWP4Zl3ILgaUXG1zzpxmzI=&ei=02V5S5-PMtSX8Aa-ndzzCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CB0Q9QEwAw>.

  11. Sources Cont. • "A Tribute to Richard Evans Schultes." Web. 18 Feb 2010. <http://www.biopark.org/peru/schultes-obit.html>. • Sequeira, Luis. "Richard Evans Schultes 1915-2001." biographical Memoir 2006: n. pag. Web. 18 Feb 2010. <http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/rschultes.pdf>.

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